Google’s Sundar Pichai has confirmed that Android 4.4 will be called KitKat. While it’s a strange choice to use an existing brand, the kids at Google must love their chocolate. They have permission from Nestle to use the name, guess they don’t care about SEO.

The new Google Android version follows in the tradition of having it’s place on Google’s front lawn and the deliciously chocolatey KitKat man stands tall. Google say, “It’s our goal with Android KitKat to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody.”

The announcement of the new name goes against the long held understanding that they would use Key Lime Pie as the title. Judging from the comments, Android fans like the new name better.

Google also took the opportunity to announce a new milestone, Android is the operating system that powers over 1 billion smartphones and tablets (mostly phones). 1 billion of anything is a staggering number, one that Office, Facebook and now Google can lay claim to.

Since these devices make our lives so sweet, each Android version is named after a dessert: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean. As everybody finds it difficult to stay away from chocolate we decided to name the next version of Android after one of our favorite chocolate treats, Kit Kat!

To make this release even sweeter, Kit Kat is giving you the chance to win a Nexus 7 or Google Play credit. Just look for specially branded Kit Kat candy bars featuring the Android robot in a store near you.

You can visit the new site from Google at http://www.android.com/kitkat/ which let’s you scroll through the historical versions of Android – Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean. More info @ Pichai’s Google+ page.

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